Chrystia Freeland hopes to save free trade with Europe

WASHINGTON — Canada’s trade minister is flying to meetings in different countries over the coming week in an attempt to save a trade agreement with the European Union.

Chrystia Freeland will meet European politicians at a progressive forum in Montreal, speak in Germany to a congress of the centre-left Social Democratic party, then address a supper gathering of European trade ministers in Slovakia.

The agreement faces opposition, particularly from the European left.

Freeland says the Liberals have tried to address concerns over things like labour and environmental standards, in an effort to get the deal ratified by European lawmakers three years after an agreement-in-principle was announced by the previous Harper government.

She says it’s important now to ratify the agreement and demonstrate that anti-globalization forces can be beaten.

She made the remarks to reporters in the U.S. — where the trade-bashing Donald Trump has been rising in recent polls.

Freeland said surging protectionist sentiment is complicating the process of reaching a new softwood lumber agreement with the U.S.

She said the two countries are making an honest attempt at bridging fundamental differences, but Canada is also preparing for the possibility of a new round of court battles as repeatedly experienced over this issue in the past.

“There are some big differences,” Freeland said.

“We’re looking for a good deal — not just any deal. … If it does go to litigation we’re prepared for that too.”

Filed under:

Advertisement

Advertisement

Post navigation

Chrystia Freeland hopes to save free trade with Europe

Despite what Ms Nuland, er Freeland thinks, Canada needs a free trade agreement with the EU like it needs another hole in the head. Whatever we need from them will continue to be imported, lower tariffs won’t necessarily translate into cheaper BMWs and Audis, or get them into NAFTA through a low tariff backdoor, but it will cut into the domestic production market. If they want to enter the North American market, through Canada, they need to build assembly or manufacturing plants on this side of the water.

The price of wine won’t fall enough to warrant greater importations.

While gutting , and subsidizing, Canadian food producers and manufacturers to make Nestle and Cadbury-Schweppes happy seems like a good idea, the dependency, or worse still, the sell-off of Canadian agriculture to European interests, a long-held dream of this will make us more slave to food importation than we already are. Only with some real food monopolies to deal with. ‘Caveat emptor’ is the ultimate truth in Canada’s rum deal with the EU.

Canada is still a hewer of wood, drawer of water and digger of cheap resources for the EURO bankers and they’d love nothing netter than a trade deal that makes their acquisitions easier. Ms Freeland is salivating to give it to them. She should stick to shilling for EUkraine.

Notice: Your email may not yet have been verified. Please check your email, click the link to verify your address, and then submit your comment. If you can't find this email, access your profile editor to re-send the confirmation email. You must have a verified email to submit a comment. Once you have done so, check again.

Almost Done!

Please confirm the information below before signing up.

{* #socialRegistrationForm *}
{* socialRegistration_firstName *}
{* socialRegistration_lastName *}
{* socialRegistration_emailAddress *}
{* socialRegistration_displayName *}
By clicking "Create Account", I confirm that I have read and understood each of the website terms of service and privacy policy and that I agree to be bound by them.